(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remotely controlled mirror apparatus for motor vehicles, more particularly to a remotely controlled outside mirror apparatus in which a mirror can be controlled from the interior of a motor vehicle, and also a shock absorbing mechanism is provided to increase safety by absorbing a strong shock due to an external force applied to the housing supporting the mirror.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional remotely controlled mirror apparatus provided with a shock absorbing mechanism is widely used as a rear view mirror apparatus mounted on a body of a vehicle in such a manner that the remotely controlled mirror apparatus is projected exteriorly from the body of the motor vehicle. The remotely controlled mirror apparatus has functions for reducing damage by an external object and for preventing damage to the mirror per se by the operation that the mirror housing inclines and falls with respect to the body of the vehicle, when the housing comes into collision with an external object. Such functions are achieved by the construction that the mirror housing is resiliently held by a spring with respect to a base fixed on the body of the vehicle. According to such construction the mirror housing can incline and fall in a forward or backward direction in accordance with the direction of the external force to absorb the strong shock resulting from the application of the external force to the mirror housing. A control mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the mirror body securing the mirror is composed of a handling lever, a movable plate connected to the handling lever through a hinge mechanism, and a fitting portion disposed on the mirror body to slidably fit the movable plate; the handling lever being integrally formed with a knob disposed in the interior of the motor vehicle, a pivot rotatably supported on the base, and an arm connected to the movable plate.
In such a conventional remotely controlled mirror apparatus mentioned above, the inclination of the mirror body securing the mirror is adjusted in such a manner that the arm is rotated around the pivot by shifting the knob and the movable plate connected to the handling lever through the hinge slides to push the internal wall of the fitting portion. According to such conventional construction, in the case where the mirror housing is inclined with respect to the base in a forward or backward direction by the application of an external force, the distance between the mirror body and the handling lever is changed by a sliding motion of the movable plate with respect to the mirror body. As a result, the mirror body follows the inclination of the mirror housing thereby preventing the damage to the mirror body and/or the handling lever.
However, according to such conventional construction there is provided the fitting portion for slidably fitting the movable plate to the mirror body so as to rotate the mirror body with respect to the mirror housing and to make the movable plate movable by the shifting operation of the handling lever. The predetermined relationship in position between the mirror body and the movable plate is undesirably shifted, however, by vibration of the motor vehicle which results in an unclear field of view and deterioration of operation efficiency. Further there is provided no means for regulating the sliding distance of the movable plate with respect to the fitting portion in the construction mentioned above, so that the movable plate undesirably escapes from the fitting portion and a normal return of the mirror body is undesirably disturbed by interference produced between the mirror body and the handling lever, when the mirror body has completely fallen down on the base for supporting the mirror body.